Chris Lange, FISM News
The co-founders of Ben and Jerry’s have doubled down on their refusal to sell their ice cream products to Jews living in territories along the West Bank and portions of East Jerusalem, insisting their decision is a boycott of “settlements,” not Israel in a recent Axios interview.
In the interview, however, Jerry Greenfield did accuse the Jewish nation of breaking international law when asked why they are targeting this issue and not others they disagree with:
One thing that’s different is that what Israel is doing is considered illegal by international law. And so I think that’s a consideration.
Jerry Greenfield and Ben Cohen, both 70, defended their July 2021 decision to ban the sale of their products in Israel in protest of Israeli “occupation” of Palestinian territories. The ice cream entrepreneurs and self-appointed social justice warriors have received intense backlash for the move Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid called a “disgraceful capitulation to anti-Semitism.”
Greenfield and Cohen responded to the criticism In a New York Times op.-ed., claiming themselves to be acting “on the right side of history.”
Their announcement sparked immediate outrage, including promises of retaliatory action by four U.S. states. Recently, the State of New Jersey joined Arizona in its decision to divest from Ben and Jerry’s parent company, Unilever, in direct response to the move. Greenfield said the decisions are based on “misinformation.”
“Ben & Jerry’s and Unilever are being characterized as boycotting Israel — which is not the case at all. It’s not boycotting Israel in any way,” he said.
More than 440,000 Israelis live in the West Bank region, which Israel captured in the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. Palestinians dispute Israel’s right to the land, claiming they are illegal “occupiers.” Despite Israel being America’s closest ally in the Middle East, progressive Democrats have increasingly embraced and promoted anti-Israeli/pro-Palestinian sentiment. Thirty-five U.S. states have anti-Israel boycott laws.
Greenfield and Cohen, who publicly supported Occupy Wall Street, Black Lives Matter, and the defund the police movement, seem willing to draw a line on their activism – or, perhaps, a dollar sign – in some instances.
When asked why they haven’t banned the sale of their products in Texas over the passage of the state’s “heartbeat bill,” Cohen replied, “By that reasoning, we should not sell any ice cream anywhere. I’ve got issues with what’s being done in almost every state and country.” Likewise, Ben and Jerry’s still profits from ice cream sales in Georgia, despite the left’s accusations that the state’s voter I.D. laws are acts of voter suppression.
“I don’t know,” said Cohen when challenged about the inconsistency. “It’s an interesting question. I don’t know what that would accomplish. We’re working on those issues, of voting rights, adding “I think you ask a really good question. And I think I’d have to sit down and think about it for a bit.”
Greenfield and Cohen founded Ben and Jerry’s in South Burlington, Vermont, in 1978. The ice cream company became known for its cleverly-named, unique flavor combinations. The duo sold the operational control of the company to Unilever in 2000 but retained rights to make certain decisions.